In the 19th century, the middle classes filled their homes with bronze sculptures - miniature reproductions of the famous works that thrilled the artistic elite of Paris. Produced using an industrial process, and sold through catalogues by numerous art foundries, these editions provided a good income for artists.
The Orsay in Paris is presently offering an overview of these "everyday" collectibles. Naturally, they have grown in value over the years warranting their own museum exhbition.
The Musee d'Orsay in Paris now hosts an historic overview of these artworks which were "produced for the masses" but never "mass produced".
If our fine arts social network, ARTKABINETT, would have existed at the time, surely many of these items would have been displayed in our independent collectors own Kabinetts.
The most common technique of reproduction was sand casting. This complex method involved making a mould of the work in sand and then pouring the molten bronze into the cavity created. The extreme resistance of the materials used allowed this operation to be repeated indefinitely, while the high quality of the reproductions produced by this method guaranteed its success. Clients could then choose different elements (patina, base, etc) according to their taste, and personalise their acquisition.
The Maison Susse, a famous 19th-century foundry honoured with many international prizes, has a history that goes back almost two centuries. The Susse family were originally from Lorraine where they specialised in furniture making before moving to Paris and turning their attentions to other business activities like selling paper and artists' materials.
The Susse foundry opened on 27 June 1827 with the signing of the first contract in which the artist Charles Cumberworth agreed the rights to cast an edition of the statuette Napolitaine. In 1839, the brothers acquired a foundry in the rue du Faubourg du Temple. They won major contracts to produce editions of Dalou's work in 1899 and Carpeaux's work in 1914.
In 1975, Arlette Susse decided to sell the family business. Today, the Susse foundry in Arcueil is the last great 19th-century foundry still operating.
Sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875, work shown left) studied under Rude and Duret at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1868, he set up his workshops in Auteuil where he worked mainly with terracotta. He also tried his hand at marble, and called on founders like Barbedienne for his bronze editions. After Carpeaux's death, his widow ran the workshop herself, which continued to produce the editions started during the sculptor's lifetime, and to reproduce new works as well.
Later, Carpeaux's heirs developed a closer relationship with the Susse foundry through their first official agreement in 1911. A contract was signed on 1 January 1914 giving Susse exclusive rights to cast eleven subjects in all materials.
Another sculptor, Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902, lower right) took intimist subjects for his early works. Having taken an active part in the Commune, he lived in exile in England, before returning to France after the amnesty of 1889 and embarking on an official career.
Initially influenced by Flemish baroque and then by 17th-century French sculpture, Dalou believed that his sculptures could not be reproduced in any other way than the one he had chosen. A work is made for one material and one size. To change these is to distort it. However in May 1899, Dalou was finally persuaded by the Susse brothers, and signed his first contract for an edition.
Contract development
At the end of the 1830s, it became necessary to develop a system for protecting original works. Several factors prompted the creation of contracts for reproduction rights to avoid any litigation: the massive increase in casting editions, Achille Collas' new machine that could produce reduced copies of a sculpture, the desire to have exclusive rights to cast a model, and the creation in 1839 of an award at the exhibition for industrial products. The founders seized the opportunity to regulate the budding market in artistic bronzes: reductions or replicas of existing sculptures and models created specifically by sculptor-modellers.
Changes around 1900
Faced with changes in taste at the end of the 19th century, a preference for more simple decorative elements inspired by Japanism and the rejection of the bourgeois aestheticism into which sculpture reproductions had been assimilated ñ the whole practice of producing editions was transformed at the beginning of the 20th century.
In a desire to get closer to the 'artistís hand', founders limited the number of editions. Camille Claudel was one of the first to see the number of her works limited in this way.
Regarded as an extension of the original work, the limited edition broke with the mass reproduction typical of the 19th century. Wishing to move away from industry practices, some founders returned to the lost wax method, where it is only possible to make one copy.
Along with the modernisation in the production of editions that continued throughout the 19th century, came a rapprochement between founders and artists. Editions enabled the works of contemporary artists to be disseminated. All these changes led to the sand casting process being dropped in favour of the lost wax process.
